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Morgan Housel - Finance is a Strange Industry

Comments

  • edited August 2014
    You meant Marc Faber? I don't see any reference to Hussman.

    Regardless "Information Technology" and "Investment Management" (not "Finance industry" which includes many other things, are two havens for Bullshit Artists. There are no barriers to entry educationally or intellectually.
  • Click on the link that says "one that has" - it is Hussman's fund
  • Here is the paragraph containing that link. He believes that Hussman's fund is "the worst mutual fund to own over the last 10 years"

    The truth is that finance is filled with people who remain in business despite awful track records. There were 894 mutual funds in 2012 that had been in business in 1998. Of those, only 275 beat their benchmarks. That means more than 600 funds have underperformed what could be achieved in a low-cost index fund, but still remained in business for a decade and a half. The worst mutual fund to own over the last 10 years -- one that has underperformed all of its peers and trailed its benchmark by 150% -- still manages more than $1 billion.
  • edited August 2014
    "The irony is that if you are moderately wealthy, advisory fees might be your single largest annual expense -- and you're probably oblivious to them. You diligently include an $8.99 Netflix subscription in your monthly household budget, but have no idea you're paying 50 times that much to your 401(k) adviser. No other industries work like this."

    If I recall correctly, many years ago John Bogle was saying that he wanted a requirement that mutual fund companies include on each statement the actual dollar amount of expenses for that specific person's account.

    So if a person had a mutual fund account of $100,000 and the expense ratio of the fund was 1.26%, the account statement would say that $1,260 in expenses had been deducted from the account.

    I'd like to see regulations requiring that. Not going to happen, but would be a real eye opener for everyone.
  • You don't think St. John Bogle had a ulterior motive by that suggestion?

  • You don't think St. John Bogle had a ulterior motive by that suggestion?

    I don't know JohnChisum. I guess only he knows his true motives.
  • @MOZART325: The reference to Hussman was as plain as the nose on your face. Thanks for the link.
    Regards,
    Ted
  • I know what my next job is going to be. I could do this every year. e.g.

    http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/24/best-worst-mutual-funds-personal-finance-worst_slide_2.html

    Wait, I could do this every week! Someone's gotta have a blog for this and must be a millionaire by now with people visiting this daily and clicking on link for 1-800-eat-s***
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